Countdown to Cataclysm – A Deck Analysis

Hello! Today I wanted to do a more competitive-focused article, on why the Countdown to Cataclysm deck is so strong.

Cataclysm consistently makes it into my Nemesis deck pairings. Is this because it is so good, or I just happen to enjoy the deck?

A quick analysis of the Staggerers Nemesis Deck Repository yields the fact that there are 38/65 decks with the Cataclysm deck pairing at the time of writing. (speaking of – if you have any Nemesis decks you’re proud of, I’d love to add them there! For more info check out the Staggerers Discord Server).

With that out of the way, let’s get into discovering if this deck is good or not!

OBJECTIVES

A quick view over of the objectives from Cataclysm yields the following:

1. There are 4 objectives that require combat (The Perfect Cut, Overwhelming Force, Wreckers, and Hounds of War)
2. There are 3 objectives that require holding (Shocking Assault, Set Explosives, Uneven Contest)
3. There are 3 ‘passive’ objectives (Collateral Damage, Spread Havoc, Loaded for Bear).
4. The other last objectives are Too Close for Comfort, which requires interaction but not necessarily kills, and Nowhere to Run, which requires visiting the whole board.

Pretty much any warband will always run the ‘passive’ objectives. This makes up for an average of 4 passive glory per game, for just playing. You don’t have to do anything special.

Most warbands also pick up Wreckers, just cause it’s so easy to score. This makes a total of 6 glory if we add the previous 4 passive glory.

If you are playing a more hold-oriented style, you typically will add Set Explosives and some people like playing Shocking Assault. This adds 3 glory to the previous 6 for a total of 9.

On the other hand, if you play aggro, you will play Hounds of War, The Perfect Cut, and Too Close for Comfort pretty much always, for a total of 6 ‘passive’ glory + 3 ‘aggro’ glory yielding 9 glory in total.

This means that pretty much any warband playing Cataclysm can reliably pick up 9 glory. Some other warbands also play the other objectives as well, such as 4 dice warbands running Overwhelming Force and hyper-hold players running Uneven Contest. Still, 9 glory is one of the highest glory from all the decks. Here is a quick ranking of objectives that will pretty much always be played from other decks:

1. Pillage & Plunder: 14
2. Reckless Fury: 11
3. Cataclysm: 9
4. Emberstone Sentinels: 8
5. Blazing Assault: 6
6. Wrack and Ruin: 5

This is assuming you are playing ‘for the deck’. For example, Pillage & Plunder is so high assuming you are dedicating your playstyle to delving the entire board.

Out of these decks, Countdown to Cataclysm ranks 3rd, just behind Reckless Fury. Why is it so common then, if there is 2 decks ranked above it? Is it because of the objectives or not?

Well, Countdown to Cataclysm has the highest ‘guaranteed’ glory ceiling from any deck in the game. 99% of the time, you will be scoring Collateral Damage, Spread Havoc (for 2 points), Wreckers, and Loaded for Bear. That makes a total of 6 glory points that are ‘undeniable’. Compare that to other decks:

1. Pillage & Plunder: 6 (Claim the Prize, Delving for Wealth, Share the Load, Desolate Homeland, Against the Odds, Hostile Takeover)
2. Blazing Assault: 4 (Get Stuck In, Fields of Blood, Keep Chopping, Critical Effort)
3. Reckless Fury: 3 (Frenzied Rush, Aim for the Top, Red Aftermath)
4. Wrack and Ruin: 3 (Low on Options, Ploymaster, Bloody and Bruised)
5. Emberstone Sentinels: 1 (Aggressive Defender)

The only other deck that comes close is Pillage & Plunder, which takes up 6 objective slots instead of just 4 from Cataclysm and also requires you to delve compared to just play the game as Cataclysm does.

Are objectives the only thing keeping Countdown to Cataclysm as one of the best decks? Probably not, but let’s see!

GAMBITS

A quick overview of the gambits:

• 2 accuracy buffs: Savage Blow, Raging Tremors
• 2 ‘mess with opponent’: Growing Concerns, The End is Nigh
• 3 pings: Sunder the Realm, Total Collapse, Improvised Attack
• 2 pushes: Violent Blast (sidestep+distraction), Counter-charge (sidestep)
• 1 ‘other’: Do or Die

At first glance nothing too major. Technically Improvised Attack doubles as a Distraction, and some cards do their effect multiple times (Violent Blast, Sunder the Realm, Raging Tremors). Still, nothing too oppressive.

First of all, relative to other decks, Countdown to Cataclysm actually provides a really decent accuracy package. Raging Tremors is one of the only multi-stagger cards, which can lead to multiple re-rolls per round, and as we all know Stagger is the best game mechanic in the Underworlds. Savage Blow is unfortunately not the best accuracy card of all time but warbands with lots of dice or who need supports for whatever reason (like Jaws of Itzl) might run it. Still, Blazing Assault with Determined Effort alone is probably stronger. So clearly this deck is not taken for the accuracy ploys.

The control cards are really strong, but both of them scale with Cataclysm value. Growing Concerns can steal an activation from your opponent, and the End is Nigh is scary in late game and might force your opponent into bad plays. This is actually the highest amount of control ploys in the game per deck. While The End is Nigh doesn’t see much play, Growing Concerns is super popular in a sit-back based deck, which as we have seen Cataclysm can do.

All 3 pings are strong here. Sunder the Realm is obviously really good, being able to kill, having multiple targets, and decently reliable. Total Collapse is the only ‘undodgable’ ping in the game that can kill (ignoring special cases), but it’s pretty unreliable without a high Cataclysm value. Improvised Attack is super strong, as it can also drive back targets, let down by the downside of your opponent having to roll. Still, it counts as an attack action for objectives. These 3 cards are definitely one of the stronger parts of the deck! No other deck in the game, even Wrack & Ruin, has this much pings that can kill.

The pushes in this deck are also extremely strong. Violent Blast is really rewarding but requires quite a bit of setup. It’s also one of the only forced Distraction effects in the game, the other 2 being Confusion and Lure of Battle. Counter-charge is tied for the highest range push in the game, making it really versatile. It also provides a defensive buff. Pushes are definitely one of this deck’s selling points.

Finally, Do or Die is rarely ever played. It lasts for too short to be usable. There are several warbands who can run it reliably but that’s it.

Overall, the gambits in this deck are mixed. Some of them are very strong and even a little oppressive, like Improvised Attack, Sunder the Realm, and Counter-charge. Others, like Do or Die, are auto-skips except in very certain cases. Here is a ranking of ‘strong’ gambits from each deck (ones that most warbands will use):

Blazing Assault: 9
Pillage & Plunder: 7
Countdown to Catcalysm: 6
Wrack & Ruin: 6
Emberstone Sentinels: 6
Reckless Fury: 3

We can see that Cataclysm is tied for 3rd place along with Wrack & Ruin and Emberstone Sentinels. However, if we go back to the Objectives section, we notice that the only decks that still rival Countdown to Cataclysm in both Objectives and Gambits are Pillage & Plunder and Blazing Assault. So it’s down to the upgrades to decide the best of these 3!

UPGRADES

Here is a quick overview of the upgrades as before:

• 2 Cataclysm counter upgrades: Bringer of Doom, Extinction’s Edge
• 1 speed upgrade: Visions of Ruin
• 3 defensive upgrades: Driven By Pain, Utter Conviction, Great Fortitude
• 1 accuracy upgrade: Inescapable Grasp
• 2 attack action upgrades: Desperate Rage, Hurled Weapon
• 1 ‘other’: Burnt Out

The upgrades at first glance don’t have much that stand out, and notably don’t have any Grievous giving upgrades.

The Cataclysm counter upgrades are rarely used in Nemesis (from my perspective). Typically, your passive counter generation is reliable enough.

The speed upgrade is pretty strong when compared to other speed upgrades, aka Great Speed. While Great Speed is free and has no downside, Visions of Ruin can speed you up A LOT in late game. This can be good for the ‘run away’ playstyle, and has pretty good synergy with the treasure-based objectives in this deck (as they require you to hold in specific areas).

Defensive upgrades are this deck’s strong point. Driven By Pain is arguably the weakest one, at best reducing your damage taken and at worst being an anti-driveback card. The issue with it is it probably won’t prevent actually important drive backs as opponents would rather heal you then let you be in a good position. Great Fortitude is a staple, providing extra Health for 2 glory. One of the best defensive upgrades in general. Somehow, it gets better, with Utter Conviction: arguably the best defensive upgrade in the game. Yes, you can no longer roll your Crit-Cleave or Crit-Grievous. However, you get access to a potential 3 defense! The only other way to get 3 defense is Impossibly Quick, which breaks after one use. Utter Conviction is permanent, and only 1 glory, and you can still go on guard after using it! Definitely the strongest upgrade in the deck, even if it does have a ramp up time.

Inescapable Grasp is not the best accuracy upgrade but is a fine choice if you don’t have other options. Ensnare isn’t too bad, but it’s for sure one of the weaker accuracy cards.

Attack action upgrades are a rarity these days, and they aren’t too bad in this deck. Hurled Weapon is one of the only two Range 3 attack upgrades in the game, and Desperate Rage is the only 3 Damage attack action upgrade in the game. Hurled Weapon is arguably the more accurate of the two Range 3 upgrades, having Crit Cleave. Desperate Rage is really common as it allows for modifiers like Grievous, making it do a potential 4 Damage!

Burnt Out is a card you’ll typically take if your upgrades choices are, well, Burnt Out. Taking an action and a glory point to draw 2-3 cards is maybe not the best course of action, partially because Focus exists. It also Staggers you, while this fits the theme of this blog it does not fit the theme of something you want to be when getting attacked. Like, you can literally Focus the card away for a minimum of two cards without spending a glory or getting staggered. In V1, this card would have been great but in V2 it’s not the best choice. Arguably the most situational upgrade in the deck, excluding the Cataclysm generator ones.

Now let’s compare the good upgrades to other decks:
Once again, I will take all the ‘auto-include’ upgrades from each deck and rank the decks. For Cataclysm, I will consider Utter Conviction, Great Fortitude, and one attack action upgrade as auto includes. If a warband doesn’t auto-take Desperate Rage, it’s likely to take Hurled Weapon, and vice versa. Here are the rankings:

Emberstone Sentinels: 8
Blazing Assault: 7
Pillage & Plunder: 5
Wrack & Ruin: 3
Countdown to Cataclysm: 3
Reckless Fury: 2

Here we can see that Cataclysm ties for 4th deck on upgrades with Wrack & Ruin. This is obviously not as strong of a performance as for ploys and objectives. However, it is important to note one thing – only 2 decks in this section have a count of higher than half the upgrades being ‘auto-includes’. Those 2 decks overlap significantly, having 6 out of the 7 and 8 upgrades be the same. This shows us that upgrades in general in this edition are of lower quality than ploys or objectives. What does this mean for Cataclysm?

OVERALL

Cataclysm is one of the most common decks due to the following reasons:
a) objectives don’t require much deviation from a typical gameplan, as provided by other decks.
b) the easy objectives have the highest ‘easy’ glory in the game, at 6.
c) adding the easy objectives to the really flexible gambits gives us a deck that has a lot of synergy with many other decks.
d) good objectives are (as a trend) harder to come by in other decks, while good upgrades are easier to find. Ploys are as trend pretty decent throughout all decks.

With these 4 points, we can draw the conclusion that Countdown to Cataclysm happens to perfectly patch up common holes in other decks while having it’s weaknesses addressed by almost all decks available right now.

Objectives are really synergetic with whatever playstyle you choose to play, I went into more detail above as to what you play with aggro and what you play with hold. There is also a really strong ‘auto-score’ objective package that is rarely found in other decks.

Ploys, despite typically not being required by other decks, can be used in many different ways, allowing for many flexible playstyles. Additionally. this is the best deck for kill-pings right now, which any warband loves as Grievous is hard to come by. Overall, pretty much each ploy in this deck has multiple use cases, allowing for great synergy with many different playstyles.

Finally, the best upgrades from this deck are defensive, which are quite rare and sought after this edition. They work well with any warband, as no one wants to die early. Additionally, most other decks already have a pretty strong upgrade package that will take up most of your upgrade slots, which prevents you from having to take the weaker upgrades in this deck. Even if you still don’t meet the necessary 10 upgrades, the ‘bad’ upgrades in this deck still have use cases, such as Ensnare being very strong in some matchups but dead in others.

Overall, Cataclysm is the most synergetic deck in the game right now. It fits well with any playstyle, and doesn’t force you into doing things you typically wouldn’t want to. While I definitely don’t recommend playing ‘for the Cataclysm’, like you would play ‘for delving’, I 100% recommend giving this deck a try as the second deck in your pairing.

And that’s it! I hope you enjoyed the article! Hopefully, this convinced you of the strength of this deck compared to others. If you do have any feedback or would just like to chat about some points I made in this article, I am quite active on the Staggerers discord where I would be more than happy to chat. Once again, thanks for reading, and I hope to see you again soon!